Thomas Burke
Thomas Burke is a main character and the deuteragonist of Final Destination 2. He is a highway patrol officer, and a survivor of the Route 23 pile-up. Thomas and Kimberly Corman are the only characters that were able to cheat Death entirely in the series. Biography Thomas was born on April 13, 1975 in White Plains, New York. He resided in Westchester County, and is one of the stationed police officers in the Route 23 sub-station. Besides highway patrol, Thomas also performs secondary tasks such as police investigation and crime scene cleanup. During a stake-out with his partner, Thomas was reassigned to clean up the remains of Billy Hitchcock, avoiding a fatal shoot-out which took his partner's life. ''Final Destination 2'' When Kimberly Corman stalls her SUV in the middle of the road after having a premonition of a pile-up on the highway. The drivers behind her, including Burke, complained about her interruption until vehicles ahead crash one another and explode on the highway. As a result, Kimberly is later interrogated by Burke at a police sub-station, where Kimberly explained that her vision was very similar to Alex Browning's vision, and that they are now all on Death's List. Burke and the other survivors disregard this until survivor Evan Lewis dies the next day, alarming the survivors about the incoming danger. After researching the Flight 180 disaster, Burke willingly agrees to help Kimberly save the group from death, now with the aid of Clear Rivers, the last survivor of Flight 180. At Clear's suggestion they meet with mortician William Bludworth, who helps the latter by telling her new life can defeat Death. Kimberly believes that pregnant survivor Isabella Hudson can save them, however this proves false since Isabella was meant to live even in the premonition. After Clear and Eugene's deaths, Kimberly sacrifices herself for Burke' safety by driving a van into a lake, however Burke rescues her and sends her to a hospital for recovery where she is revived and granted new life. This completely ruins the design and saves her and Burke. Having finally cheated Death, they go to a picnic with the Gibbons family, who tell them how their son Brian Gibbons was saved from Death by one of the survivors. To everyone's surprise, Brian is incinerated nearby due to a barbecue grill malfunction. It is likely that Thomas still works as a highway patrol officer after cheating death with Kimberly. 'Death (Alternate Timeline)' A newspaper clipping shows that five years after Brian Gibbons' death, Burke went to a hardware store to buy supplies, and met Kimberly inside. As they greeted each other, an unmanned vehicle began to drive down the road until it crashed into the store, nearly killing Kim and Burke. They rushed outside the back door at the last minute only to come into contact with a woodchipper, which failed to shut off. Kimberly got her coat caught inside the machine and was slowly sucked in. Burke tried to save Kimberly, but in the process, he got caught in the machine too. Both of them were hacked to bits by the woodchipper, their blood splattering all over the wall. The newspaper article on his death: The scene that reveals their deaths is only featured as an optional part of the Choose Their Fates special feature on the "Thrill Ride DVD Edition" of Final Destination 3, that allows the viewer to choose between variations of scenes playing out, which can result in a substantially different viewing experience. It was not featured in the theatrical cut of the film and is generally considered to be non-canonical, though producer Craig Perry has said that the scene 'can be canon'. Signs/Clues * At the top of the page of the newspaper, there is a heading that says "COST OF COMMUTING | B2-3" which could possibly be referencing the Route 23 pile-up. * The woodchipper that sucked Thomas and Kimberly in is owned by Brian Gibbons' father. * When Kimberly's diary is shown it says "Road Trip" but her keys are blocking the T making it say: "ROAD RIP" * When Sam and his friends are on their way to the bridge Sam sees a log truck, foreshadowing the pile-up and Thomas' death. * In the opening credits for ''Final Destination 5'', logs and his coffee are seen crashing through glass foreshadowing his premonition's death. * Burke's police call sign is Unit 13. * Ironically, the machine that kills him is designed for breaking down logs and wood into smaller chips. Mistakes in his death *This article is the corrected version. For the mistakes it had see below: **Note that the article says Route 180 pile-up, when in the film it was actually Route 23. **The article says the event took place at Lakeview, NJ, but in the film it says they were residents of White Plains, NY. **There is inconsistency in the timeline of events as described by this article. It says they were both the last survivors of the pile-up that happened three years ago. Kevin specifically said that the Flight 180 premonition happened six years ago, and in Final Destination 2, the pile-up happened on the exact day that marked a year since the Flight 180 premonition. Unless the newspaper article is outdated in the film, as it was covering a homeless man, this creates an error in the timeline. **Brian Gibbons's father is named Peter Gibbons, instead of "Roger Gibbons". As Mrs. Gibbons had called him "Peter" in Final Destination 2. Unless Mr Gibbons had changed his first name after Brian's death, this is an error. **In ''Final Destination 4'' it was revealed there was another visionary called Pam Smith who died along with Officer Craig Perry in Joe's Hardware store, after she went there for directions - it's exactly the same plot to Kimberly and Thomas' non-canon deaths. The only difference is that the cause of death for Pam and Craig isn't revealed. **The pictures of Kim and Thomas shown in the newspaper are of some the promotional pictures of the 2nd film so you can clearly see the outfits they were wearing during the events of the 2nd film. Theories * His and Kimberly's non-canon death article could be false for all the mistakes it has. Appearances *''Final Destination 2'' (portrayed by Michael Landes) *''Final Destination 2'' (novel) *''Final Destination 3 (alternative scene) (portrayed by Michael Landes) *Final Destination 5'' (archive footage in ending credits) (portrayed by Michael Landes) Trivia *Thomas is one of the two people to have succeeded in cheating Death, the other is Kimberly Corman. *Thomas is the only character in the series to not have Death taunt, hint or even try killing him like all the other characters in the series. * Although Thomas was not brought back to life like Kimberly, Kimberly attempted suicide by drowning herself and then was saved by Thomas and Dr Kallarjian. Like Ian McKinley said to Wendy in the 3rd film if the last one committed suicide then the others one will be safe. So it can be assumed that's the reason he didn't die after Kimberly was brought back. * He is the only survivor to be the officer and interrogate other survivors himself. *Kimberly and Thomas' non-canon deaths are based from a real life death by Brian Morse who was trimming birch trees in Loveland, Colorado, when his gloved hand got caught in a wood chipper. He was pulled through the machine before anyone could help him, and his body was found inside completely mutilated. *Thomas alongside Kimberly Corman are the longest and only surviving characters in the series. The Pile-Up that was meant to kill them happened in 2001 (Sam's flight ticket in Final Destination 5 confirms 5 ''and ''1 are set in 2000 and Kimberly states that Final Destination 2 is one year later, making it 2001). *It is possible Thomas was to have died by the flying gurney in the hospital explosion, killing Clear and Eugene. If Kimberly has pulled him down at the last second, and the gurney passed right over them, exactly where Burke's head would have been since he was next on the list. *In the script of Final Destination 2, he is described as: 30, rookie cop. *In the opening of Final Destination 5, Officer Burke's death in the premonition is referenced by having the drink that spilled distracting him from the road crash into the screen. *The death in Kimberly's premonition won the 'Primo Premonition' in Dead Meat’s Kill Count of Final Destination 2. Burke, Thomas Burke, Thomas Burke, Thomas Burke, Thomas Burke, Thomas Burke, Thomas Burke, Thomas Burke, Thomas Burke, Thomas Category:Death Intervened Category:Characters Who Alternatively Survive Category:Final Destination (series) Category:Fates Unconfirmed Category:Still Alive Category:Death's Victims Category:Final Destination 3 characters